Viktor & Rolf turn a joke into reality.

 

The clapping began even before the show started: wild enthusiasm! The only thing missing was a stream of glamour-pusses to walk the red carpet at the Viktor & Rolf show.

There she was! A fiery red figure from head (russet hair included) to toe-slippers.

This haute couture collection from Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren was another witty but profound thought: to make fun of red-carpet mania by putting the models in carpet fabric from Dutch manufacturer Desso.

While a group of music students from Amsterdam clapped a special percussion performance in an upper gallery, to Steve Reich’s “Clapping Music”, the models worked the red runway in a variety of outfits: a ballooning coat dress gathered above the knees; a drape-hip skirt with a leopard pattern; a strapless dress knotted at the front.

The clothes were wrapped round the body with no apparent cut or seaming, making some beautiful or intriguing shapes.

The silhouettes seemed artful, although difficult to comprehend in the miasma of fresh-blood red.

Viktor & Rolf shows are so different, but almost always the same in effect. Two brilliant minds catching a sociological thread. But the clothes themselves not quite at the same level as the thought behind them.